Dickerson has been photographing and surfing in Alaska for the last fifteen years, finding all the best local spots and shooting pros and receational surfers for the likes of Red Bull, the New York Times, National Geographic, and others.

He calls himself the unofficial spokesperson for the Alaska surf community, which is a small but dedicated group of individuals willing to weather nearly frigid water temperatures and dangerous, constantly fluctuating tide conditions.

While he’s surfed in more big name destinations such as California, Hawaii and Australia, he says that the biggest difference between Alaska and those spots isn’t the cold water. It’s the empty, breathtakingly beautiful surf spots that never get crowded with other surfers. According to Dickerson, on most days, you’ll be the only person surfing at whatever spot you go to.

The following photos are from a recent heli-surfing trip Dickerson organized this fall where he surfed the best hidden spots tucked in between the fjords of Alaska.

Dickerson meets his fellow surfers at Seward Airport around sunrise for a full day of surfing. Sunrise in Alaska is around 9:00 am in the Fall. In the summer, it is as early as 4:00 am.

The first spot they go to check out is a short ten-minute helicopter ride away to the Gulf of Alaska.

They land at their first potential location. It's a no go. They quickly move on to the next spot. On any given trip, they might fly to several spots because tide conditions fluctuate wildly from day to day and even hour to hour.